Plant-lifting attachment for cultivators.



W. WOODALL.

PLANT LIFTING ATTACHMENT FOR GULTIVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8, 1914.

1 1 22, 1 Patented Dec. 22, 1914.

THE NORRIS PETERS CO PHDTO-LITHQ, WAii-r'iNGTC iV, D. C

ill

WALTER WOODALL, OI BENSON, NORTH CAROLINA.

PLANT-LIFTING ATTACHMENT FOR CULTIVATORS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 22,

Application filed May 8, 1914. Serial No. 837,288.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, VVALTER VVooDALL, acitizen of the United States, residing at Benson, in the county ofJohnston and State of North'Carolina, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Plant-Lifting Attachments for Cultivators, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to a plant lifting attachment for cultivatingplows, employed in the cultivation of tobacco, cabbages, peanuts, andlike plants, the object of the in vention being to provide a simple andeflicient device for elevating the leaves of the plants from the groundduring the passage of the plow, allowing the plants to be billed withoutthe leaves becoming covered with earth.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of thecharacter described which may be inexpensively manufactured and sold,which may be adapted for attachment to the right or left hand side ofthe plow as desired, which may be easily and conveniently applied andremoved, and which will be found of value in preventing the destructionof the leaves of the plants which lie in contact with the ground bylifting them and freeing them from the particles of earth, etc.

The invention consists of the features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts herein fully described and claimed, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawing in which Figure l is a side elevationshowing the application of the invention to a cultivator plow. Fig. 2 isa top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section onthe line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspectlve view of the devicedetached from the plow beam.

The device is preferably formed of a length of stout spring wire, saidwire being bent to form a shank or standard 1, a lifting arm 2, and aconnecting portion or member 3.

The end of the wire of which the standard 1 forms a part is bent backparallel with the standard so as to provide a longitudinally slottedattaching portion 5. A connecting member 3 project-s laterally at rightangles from the lower end of the standard 1, while the arm 2 projectsrearwardly from the outer end of the said connecting member 3, said arm2 being longitudinally curved, as shown.

The slotted attaching member 5 is disposed upon one side of the plowbeam 6, at the opposite side of which is placed another slottedattaching member 7, between which attaching members extend headed bolts8 provided with washers 9 and clamping nuts 10, whereby the device isadapted to be firmly clamped to the beam and may be ad'- justedvertically upon the beam and set to operate at a desired working angle.

As illustrated, the shank is arranged in practice to extend downwardlyand rearwardly at an oblique angle to the beam, thus disposing theconnecting member 3 at a suitable elevation above the surface of theground, while the lifting arm 2 extends downwardly and rearwardly so asto lie in an inclined plane, its forward end terminating at a pointclose to the ground.

In operation, the plow, with the attachment, is driven along and betweenadjacent rows of plants, and the connecting member 3 disposes thelifting arm 2 so as to run close to the stems of the plants of one ofthe rows so as to come under the leaves of the plants at the adjacentside thereof. As the plow passes along, the arm extends under thedepressed leaves and lifts the same, the leaves riding upwardly andrearwardly over the arm and connecting member 3, while the earth isbeing thrown toward the plants by the plowshare. By this means thedepressed leaves are elevated and relieved of earth and other foreignmatter weighing them down, and are also so disposed as to allow theearth from the share to be thrown toward the plants for hilling action,without the earth coming in contact with the leaves. The device will befound of advantage in cultivating tobacco, peanuts, cabbage and otherplants having leaves lying in contact with the ground'and beaten down bystorms or held depressed by the weight of earth thereon, the deviceraising the leaves clear of the ground, while at the same time allowingthe plants to be billed without injury. It will be evident that theangle of inclination of the device may be varied, as well as itselevation with relation to the ground, and that the device may beconstructedfor application to either the right or left hand side of thebeam.

I claim 1. The combination with a plow beam, of fastening means appliedto the beam, a shank secured to the beam by said fastening means andprojecting downwardly and rearwardly at an angle to the beam, a memberprojecting outwardly and laterally from the shank at right angles to thebeam, and a longitudinally curved lifting arm connected '1 atitsiforward end to said member and eX- tending rearwardly therefrom,said arm being disposed on a general upwardly and rearwardly curvedplane.

2. The combination with a plow-beam, of slotted attaching membersdisposed on opposite sides thereof, bolts passing through said slottedfastening members above and below the beam, a shank depending from oneof said fastening members at a down- Ward and rearward angle to thebeam, a member projecting outwardly and laterally at right angles fromthe lower end of the shank, and a longitudinally curved lifting armconnected at its forward end with the outer end of said member andprojecting rearwardly and parallel with the beam, said lifting armhaving its forward end disposed at its lowest point and thence extendingon an upward and rearward line of curvature.

3. The combination with a plow beam, of a leaf elevating devicecomprising a shank attached to the beam and extending at a downward andrearward angle therefrom, a member extending laterally from the lowerend of the shank, and a longitudinally curved lifting arm projectingrearwardly at a downward angle from said member in a plane parallel withthe plane of the beam.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WALTER VVOODALL. Witnesses O. A. BARBOUR, J. A. PARKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

